Part Deux of this incredible gathering of Japanese toy obsessed artists is a just a mere 2 weeks away! Don’t miss it!..

WHAT: A massive show featuring some of the most talented airbrushers and painters of Japanese vinyl from all over the U.S.! … last year’s ICFSB show had plenty of other surprises too…and prizes!

A preview of my submission:

Last year I had things that smoked and made irritating noises…but I just didn’t have the time this year to make such annoying Objects de‘Art…BUT, I have something too HOT to touch!!!…(well not really…you can touch it all you want)…

I really like how this guy turned out…lots of glitter that you can’t make out in the picture and also his pupil is a tiny flame. I’ll get more pics up on flickr as the show grows nearer but I think it would be much better to come see it in person… 😉

Here’s one of them I painted up…(my first resin paint app…so be gentle)

I still have one more to do… but I’ll be out of town for a couple of weeks so I though I would go ahead and post this up.

Pre-paint Kones!…

I’m calling this Kone flavor..Nuclear Strawberry…

Standing 6″ tall, the resin prototypes are still a little rough around the edges, but with a little more polish I think it’s shaping up to be a really great new toy…one that I would love to see made into vinyl!

When you feel your temperature rising…reach for a refreshing Kone!

Everyone’s getting in on the action!…

Even Yokai love Kones…

So unassuming when viewed from behind…

Wanna bite???…

Though you can’t tell so much in the images above…I used color shift pearl flake in the fuscia and red paints so it has a bit more depth in person. The Kaiju Kones are a blast to paint and fun to hold…feels just like your holding the real thing. Sebastian used a real ice cream cone in the casting process which I painted heavily in metallic gold.

Vancouver resident Seabastian Curadeau is better known for his other plush creations and especially the plush Kones which I have 2 of and love ’em! See more of Sebastian’s plush awesomness…HERE!

Here’s a couple more of Sebastian’s plushes from my collection…

Be back with more in a couple of weeks …I’m taking a much needed vacation!

Love Gorgo…one of the first “kaiju” films I saw when I was a kid.

This giant monster is not from Japan though…

…Gorgo hails from Great Britain mates!

From the director of the wonderful Harryhausen vehicle: ‘Beast from 20,000 Fathoms‘ Russian born film visualist & pioneer Eugene Lourie’ takes one more stab at directing a giant monster epic before going back to his main ambition of film art director and designer.

GORGO!

Gorgo follows the story of a treasure salvage ship’s Captain, Joe Ryan, and his shipmates run-in with a violent offshore volcanic eruption… an event that will soon lead them to an encounter with a juvenile 65′ monster that is to be named… Gorgo!

Gorgo…

Definite shades of King Kong in this film…with the capture and transport of the mini beast to London…where like Kong…Gorgo is displayed to the public before all hell breaks loose! Of course Gojira is the first to come to mind too…I guess it’s hard to make a giant monster movie without it being compared to Godzilla.

The twist in this film is that it’s not Gorgo at all who’ll become the problem…it’s his angry 200′ tall mother Ogra! Momma Ogra isn’t at all happy about men stealing her baby…so the British Navy, the iconic clock Big Ben and the Tower Bridge in London will all feel her wrath! How does it end???

Mom..Ogra…

I’d definitely recommend buying it…this is actually a really descent monster film with great effects!

A New Gorgo Custom!

I didn’t have time to finish the ‘baby’ Gorgo that came with this M1-go set of flesh vinyls but here is the completed full size…

M1’s Gorgo sculpt is really something…lots of textures and lizardy bumps and scales. I wanted to use a lot of colors on this one to really bring out all of the surface qualities. I think I used about 10-12 colors on him total!

I’m calling this custom ‘Powered Gorga’ …in reference to some monsters ability to draw extra power and abilities which often makes them glow red or change colors…

The 9.5″ M1-go Gorgo vinyl was introduced in 2002 and has 6-7 different colorways including a few glow versions. Not too rare or terribly expensive but a great sculpt nonetheless. The sculpt captures the essence of the British movie monster very well…especially those big ol’ mitts!

I plan on getting back to regular posts and have 4 other customs in various stages of completion.

In case anyone’s been wondering… I’ve just been focusing on some other things lately and also have a two week vacation starting Oct. 5th…but the plan is to get back my focus on various kaiju art and customizing when I return…really!

For now though…here are a couple I finished up for the Halloween show atMonstock!

Martian Invader Borugogon…

Loosely inspired by the ‘Mars Attacks ‘ Martians…Painted on clear vinyl, I gave this guy some shiny electronics in the chest plate, silver tinsel inside, crystal green eyes that really catch the light and shine, and to top it off…a brain that is visible through the clear head piece!

The brain actually can be removed…it’s one of those wind-up novelty ones that pulsates!

Another clear Borugogon was used for my Halloween colorway…

Tried to get some shots with the light behind it as it’s really bright. Actually had a hard time shooting this one as my camera doesn’t seem to like Orange too much…all my shots just looked like a blob of orange 😦

Red ruby eyes added to give it a more demonic look and also filled with this great pink-orange tinsel inside that gives him a kind of burning effect!

Now off to Japan they go! 😦 😦

This was the first time I actually held a Borugogon and now I am determined to get one for myself…they are AWESOME!!!

Borugogons…

…are designed by Japanese artist ‘Nezrange’ (sorry I don’t have a link) and only available thru the Monstock store & Gallery.

Available in full size (shown above) and minis. Both come in various colorways, glows, and clears. The name Borugogon roughly translates to something like flower-rock monster.

A very cool toy and crazy fun to customize!

Oh, before I forget…BIG thanks to Ricky (VELOCITRON) for the hook-up!!!

Mark Nagata’s Toy Karma 2 show tears into Chicago’s Rotofugi Gallery & Store September 5th -20th 2009. Mark has rounded up an unprecedented 70+ talented artists for a Japanese toy & art show like no other!!!

I was working on a special 19″ Ultraman for this show (in honor of Mark…who if you didn’t know has the largest Ultraman collection outside of Japan!), but due to some technical difficulties and time…that’s just going to have to wait til a bit later 😦

So...I decided to create one special piece and release my ‘Sanda vs Gaira‘ set for TK2.

Out of all of the customs I’ve created…these Gargantuas have had more purchase requests than anything else I have done! I actually rarely sell my customs and mainly just paint for my own collection…but now’s your chance to grab ’em!

Up next is a custom Gezora set that recreates a scene from the 1970 TOHO film ‘Space Amoeba‘!

Emerald Sea Gezora and custom mini Ganime…

Ganime attacks…SNIP!

MAGNETS?

Some great vintage kaiju toys employed magnets set into the vinyl to allow for interchangeable heads or hold another toy. I thought it would be fun to add magnets in this way to create a scene from the film… where Gezora gets his tentacle snipped by Ganime!

A special header for the set depicts the scene…

Space Amoeba trailer…

I can’t believe the talented company I’m in for this show!!! HUGE thanks to Mark Nagata for the invite!

Also a big thanks to the sponsors and Kirby & Whitney Kerr at Rotofugi for hosting and taking care of and organizing all of this art…indeed no small task!

I’m really psyched to be part of VELOCITRON’s show at the Monstock Store & Gallery in Tokyo! I’m a huge fan of Ricky’s insane Larvagon & Bechigon toys and was more than happy to paint some up for his ‘Massing of Grim Reapers‘ themed show!

The REAPIGON…(that’s what I’m callin’ them)…first up is REAPIGON: EGG of NECROSIS…

The EGG of NECROSIS is painted in Orange/Red/Gold/Smoke/Green and features a Reaper skull with tinsel inside. Custom Reaper header included!

REAPIGON: REAPIGON MORTUOUS

I wanted to do something a little unexpected with the Grim Reaper theme with this guy.

In the night REAPIGON shows his evil demon face!

An inverted cross was burned into it’s grotesque skull…

If caught in the daylight you will behold a figure wearing the robe of the Grim Reaper…

After Reapigon MORTUOUS removes it’s robe you’ll discover that this soul stealer is not the black skeleton looking creature you were expecting at all!

In fact he is all bright metallic colors with an emerald eye…and of course a color coordinated Scythe…

So there you have it…a slightly different take on the Grim Reaper. I wanted to have a few different display options available too. Hope you like it as I really had a lot of fun painting these great VELOCITRON sculpts!

Emerald crystal eye in Reapigon’s removable head and innards…

Unfortunately I didn’t have the time I needed to make the header I really wanted (plus get VELOCITRON’s proper logo) but I got this one together fast for the show. I used a pic from the band Grim Reaper’s 1987 album cover ‘RockYou to Hell’ which I actually remember listening to. NxWxOxBxHxM x NxWxOxJxSxV Hell yeah!

Well kinda…it’s Perolynga Seijin from Ultra Seven…who wasn’t really a rooster at all! Though Bear Model’s interpretation really brings out the cock-a-doodle qualities in their sculpt of this Ultra Alien!

So without further adieu…here’s my latest custom…

Custom REdYOdA Perolynga…

One of the reasons I think I was drawn to this project was that I am born in the ‘Year of the Rooster‘ in the Chinese Zodiac…or as my friends like to keep reminding me…the year of the cock 😉

The original Perolynga by Bear Model was released in 1999 in red vinyl and this simple colorway (the above custom was painted on the plain red vinyl). Pic is from COOP’s collection…

Bear Model also re-used Perolynga’s body for their Piniya sculp from 2000…

KAIJU COLORING BOOK!

About me…

For years I have been an enthusiastic devotee of Tokusatsu series & Kaiju Eiga (Japanese SFX, live action, & monster movies).
I'm also an ardent collector of the Japanese vintage & modern vinyl figures which you'll see here on the site. I have always been drawn to the vibrant colors, shapes, & creativity exhibited in Japanese toys and television characters. These obsessions invariably come together and influence my various artwork, photography, & custom vinyl creations.

Art & Photography:

I practice the use of HDR (High Dynamic Range) in my Kaiju Art Photography. I utilize various photo manipulation techniques to modify the color palette & lighting of the subject matter. My goal is to render a distinct personality and a certain pop art sensibility to the finished image.
My other Kaiju art projects and customs will eventually make their way to this site...so please check back if your curious!